If you want to feel more confident about life, if you want to have the courage to go after your wildest dreams, here are seven things that can help.

1.) Learn to trust your inner voice.

Under the copious thoughts that swim around in your mind is your voice of inner wisdom. This is the voice of your instincts and intuition, and it is always guiding you. The trick is learning to silence your mind so you can hear what your inner voice is trying to say. This voice is always positive and helps you to feel strong because it knows your true potential and what you are truly capable of. The mind, on the other hand, can fill you with fear and doubt. When you have to make decisions in life, try your best to take guidance from your inner voice.

2.) Try something new.

Confidence in a skill or talent is something that takes time. When you stick to what you know, it can make you feel confident at first, but it can also cause you to feel limited. To really feel confident, you have to keep challenging yourself to new things and learn new things. Confidence does not come from perfection, it comes from simply trying and being ok with whatever the outcome is.

3.) Don’t be afraid to fail.

Failure is not a bad thing. Failure is a message that you need to try again but in a different way. If you keep hitting a brick wall, take it as a sign that you need to change tactics or the way you are choosing to approach things. Failure is part of the process of life and is nothing to beat yourself up about. Embrace your failures as learning opportunities and a chance to try again. It may also be wise to remember that failure is inevitable at some point on the road to success.

4.) Practice power poses.

Your posture and the way you hold your body says a lot about your confidence level, but did you know that your posture can also affect how you feel about yourself? Standing tall and strong in a power pose with your chest out and your hands on your hips, has been shown to help naturally boost your feelings of confidence and optimism. Try these power poses for just a few minutes each day and notice just how much more confident you feel.

5.) Celebrate your achievements.

Confident people are proud of their achievements and accomplishments, no matter how small. When you achieve a goal, give yourself permission to celebrate. The more you support yourself and become your greatest advocate, the more confident you will feel through life and in pursuing your dreams.

6.) Believe in yourself.

Your mind is an extremely powerful tool, and your mindset is everything when it comes to feeling more confident in life. As Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t ― you are right.” When you believe in yourself it makes it much easier to go after what you want, and it can also help you to succeed. It has been proven time and time again that when you believe in yourself and visualize yourself achieving your goals, you are more likely to succeed.

7.) Don’t be in competition with others.

Confident people know that there really is no such thing as competition with others. It is far more valuable to go after goals and achieve things for your own personal development, rather than to prove you are better that someone else. Whatever is meant for you will always find you, which means that being in competition with others is to some extent an illusion. We all get what we need in this life and the only limits we have are the ones we put on ourselves.